The guide is aimed at teachers, parents and other people who work with children who want to support them having fun in finding that Real Bread starts in a field, not a factory.

We’ve also included tips and pointers to further information for allotmenteers, would-be good-lifers and everyone else who wants to make getting a sandwich a bit more inspiring than a trip to the chiller cabinet at a petrol station.

‘School Food Matters wants every child to understand where their food comes from. What better place to start than bread? Most children enjoy a slice or two every day and the excellent Real Bread Campaign is helping to make sure they’ll be factory-free tasty slices of home-grown goodness.’

You can download the FREE pack NOW to plan for either the spring (late January - late-April) or winter (October and November) sowing seasons. Whichever sowing season you choose, your wheat should be ready to harvest from late July onwards, depending on the weather.

We’re encouraging people around the country to organise community harvesting, milling and baking days from August.

If you’d like to help bring people together this way, you can find (and add) details of public Bake Your Lawn activities on our events page.

Everyone - download the free grassroots guide and find out how to Bake Your Lawn

Seed merchants, farmers and millers - sell (or perhaps donate, in the case of schools) small quantities of bread making wheat seed direct to the public, either locally or by mail order

Farmers (and other landowners) - invite local people to help till, rake, and sow a small plot with wheat the traditional way. Then invite them back to follow the process during the year, from weeding, through to harvest

Millers (and people with small domestic mills) - organise a community milling day in the autumn. Invite local people to bring the handfuls of wheat they've grown to put into a community grist. This can then be milled for flour to bake truly local loaves

Bakers and others with bread making skills - run lessons using the resulting flour to pass on your skills

Perhaps you could join with family, neighbours and other friends to build a communal clay/mud bread oven.

Getting wheat seeds

Sorry, after two years of distributing wheat seeds, the Campaign won't be getting any more in. Please see below for suggestions of places from which you might be able to get hold of wheat seeds.

In 2011 we had 220 enquires over the spaces of four months. Of these, around 50 ordered seeds. In 2012, we had 70 orders in just one week! Three weeks later, we'd distributed more than 280 packets of seeds to nearly 190 schools and youth groups.

2012

Organic Seed Producers kindly donated organic wheat seeds for us to distribute to schools and youth groups. Each 100g packet is enough for a plot of about 2-4 square metres, which should produce enough flour for a loaf or two.

We recieved enquiries from over 220 schools and community youth groups and published pictures and wheat diaries from some of those that got growing.

Where to find wheat seeds

Here are some places from which you might be able to get bread making wheat seeds. What you need to ask for is

milling wheat (rather than feed wheat) that is suitable for

bread making (rather than cakes/pastry)

If you're planting it January-April, then it needs to be spring wheat, and if you're planting from September-November, then you need winter wheat.

A flour mill If you're lucky enough to live near a traditional flour mill, you could ask if he or she would be willing to let you have a handful. They might also be able to help you with the milling bit at harvest time.

A local cereal farmer might be able to help. We don't have a list, but perhaps one taking part in Open Farm Sunday might be willing to help you with wheat seeds, and perhaps also a farm visit.

Having contacted dozens of grain/seed merchants, farms, mills and enthusiasts around the country, the following are those that have told us they will offer seed wheat in small quantities.

Be Vital wheat seed in packets of 500g and above. 'Suitable for bread making and for growing organically.'

Brockwell Bake Association can offer small quantities of 'Dammant' spring heritage wheat mix for sowing in March and April 2013 to schools or community gardens whilst stocks last. Email atty [at] area3.net for details.

Garden Organic is making wheat seeds available to their members as part of their Members Experiments scheme

Grains2Mill- 'premium wheat from Yorkshire of a variety that has been grown with an increased sensitivity to the environment.' Available in an 8kg tub or 450g bag.

John Innes Centre - The Germplasm Resources Unit at JIC can offer schools small samples (up to 50g depending on availability) of the older types for their own use. email JIC.geneticresources [at] bbsrc.ac.uk

If you offer bread making wheat seed in small quantities (e.g. 100g for mini-plots, or 1-15kg bags for larger educational projects) either for collection or by mail order, please email the details to us and we'll add you to this list.

Other places to search

OrganicXseeds - The official UK database of organic seed availability funded by Defra and managed by the Soil Association, working in partnership with FiBL and NIAB. The website includes a list of licensed seed merchants and a list of available seed, sorted by type, e.g. spring wheat and winter wheat.

Capital Growth

If your wheat plot is in a London borough, accessible to the local community ( this includes school grounds) and at least 5m x 5m, you could be eligible to register as a Capital Growth community food growing space. To read details of the funding, training, competitions and other support Capital Growth can offer, click here.

More

You can find a list of other organisations that can support your wheat growing project in the Useful Books and Links chapter of our free Bake Your Lawn grassroots guide. Click hereto download your copy now.

In 2012 the Bake Your Lawn supporters’ coalition of the milling included the Brockwell Bake Association, Capital Growth, The Children’s Food Campaign, Eco Schools, FACE (Farming and Countryside Education), Federation of City Farms and Community Gardens, The Food For Life Partnership, Learning Through Landscapes, The National Trust, Organic Seed Producers, The Traditional Cornmillers Guild, School Food Matters, The School Food Trust, The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (Mills section), and The Soil Association.

If you have posted a blog, pictures or other details about a wheat growing project, please drop us a line and we'll add a link here.

Food growing in schools report

In March 2012, Caroline Spelman MP, Secretary of State for Defra, launched the Food Growing in Schools Taskforce Report. The report highlights compelling evidence that food growing in schools helps support children achieve, builds life and employability skills, and improves their health and well-being.

The Taskforce made six key recommendations for the future to help realise the vision of every school being a food growing school.

A national campaign celebrating food growing in schools

A policy emphasis on food growing in schools

A food growing in schools online hub

Business commitments to support food growing in schools

Promotion of food growing by school leadership teams

Improved links between food growing in schools and food-related careers